Aerial Images of Iceland's glacial rivers - Andre Ermolaev

Aerial images, taken by Andre Ermolaev from a Cessna aircraft, show the elegance of Iceland’s volcanic rivers as they flow through ash and glacial ice.

Ermoleav says, "what has become a real discovery for me is the bird’s eye view of the rivers flowing along the black volcanic sand.

It is an inexpressible combination of colors, lines, and patterns."

Iceland, an island nation comparable in size to Ohio, is home to hundreds of glaciers and volcanoes and has been responsible for 30 percent of Earth's lava flow in the last 500 years.

These contrasting natural wonders help create the landscapes depicted in Ermoleav's images.

Dr. Nicolas Warner explained that in Iceland, it is common for glacial melt water to form braided streams on outwash plains, called sandurs.

These sandurs, composed of a variety of dark basaltic volcanic material, are a dynamic contrast to the glacial rivers in Ermoleav's images.

Mountain Water Pictures: Iceland from the Air

"Iceland is a wonderful country; I would even say that it is a true paradise for all the photo shooting-lovers. But what has become a real discovery for me is the bird’s eye view of the rivers flowing along the black volcanic sand. It is an inexpressible combination of colors, lines, and patterns. The photo represents the mouth of the river falling into the ocean."

"A little bit upstream there is a yellow-coloured brook flowing into the river, but yellow currents fail to mix with the main water flow. One can estimate the scale judging by the car tracks that are clearly seen on the black sand. This is just a river, just a volcano, just our planet."

Andre Ermolaev.

Some of the remarkable pictures from Andre Ermolaev’s website